Tonight, the journey starts…

"Come out to caucus! Join the fight for a better Minnesota! Remember - if you don't caucus and/or don't vote, you might end up with the government you don't want. Your vote counts. Your participation counts. It is caucus night - let's go!"

There was a time, I would say very few people in this state have caucused more than I have. It was kind of a joke. Yes, I have been to a few political caucuses - but the majority of my caucuses have taken place during negotiations. Every time one side or the other needed to break for some "team time", the team leader would request a caucus. Tonight is so important for so many reasons. Caucus night in Minnesota is the start of the journey. It where kitchen table issues are discussed with your friends and neighbors. It is where you have a chance to visit with some politically like minded folks, who you may have not seen since the last caucus. Or maybe have seen them quite often at Tea Party or Liberty meetings. It is the night where usually a straw poll is conducted to see how the different candidates running for various offices stack up. I will miss being at this year's caucus. That really does sadden me. However, I will email the convener for my precinct and give her our candidate choices for the straw poll. I will also ask that my name be given consideration to be a delegate. Last year, my wife and I were conveners for our precinct. It was her first time, and I told her it would be interesting for her and not too much work. Turns out that was only partly true. We ended up having 104 people show up. Five times as many as the caucus two years before! It was simply wonderful, but we did work our tails off. If you have never caucused before, tonight would be a great time to start. This election in Minnesota is really for all the marbles. It is for the future of how this state fares. Much damage has been done to Minnesota under the Dayton Administration. Tonight, we have a chance to start the process to turn this destructive juggernaut around. To help reform our bloated and broken education system. To eliminate our intrusive Met Council. To reduce and reform our out of step income tax system. To make this state more business friendly to attract more businesses in this booming economy. To rightsize, for the first time in forever, our state government. Come out to caucus! Join the fight for a better Minnesota! Remember - if you don't caucus and/or don't vote, you might end up with the government you don't want. Your vote counts. Your participation counts. It is caucus night - let's go!